Dead to the World began life on KPFA as the Grateful Dead Hour. When host David Gans was offered a second hour in 1995, he agreed on the condition that he be allowed to play non-Dead music as well. "No problem," said the management, and so Dead to the World was born.

The general scheme of the show is Grateful Dead and Dead-related music in the first hour, followed by an eclectic mix of music that focuses on great songwriting – usually in the general realms of "folk," "Americana," and "jamband" music. But anything can happen! We are privileged to be able to present live performances from the control room or the Performance studio (with special thanks to Tony Ferro, our volunteer engineer, who makes it sound great on the air and in the studio).

When David is on the road, you'll almost always hear Tim Lynch guest-hosting the show. "Tim's tastes in music are similar to mine, but different enough that I feel the listeners are very well served," says David.